WT2, 2nd Semester The book The House on Mango Street, written by Sandra Cisneros, goes to show the hard life of the Latinos and how they have to struggle to make it as Latino minorities in the hostile, unresentful land of America. The book was written with the intentions of bringing to the surface the Latino struggles and how they are excluded, marginalized, and even silenced in the surrounding culture they reside in. The book presents a lot of good points on how their problems and struggles have been dismissed, ignored, or have even worsened over some time because of neglect or continuing abuse. However, in the book The House on Mango Street, the majority of the Latino culture presented throughout the book is silencing and marginalizing its …show more content…
own culture that resides in the area of that society. Though The house on Mango Street is supposed to be a realistic, brooding story of a girl who struggles to find her way in the culture she now lives among, the book does not present this idea as strongly as other ideas that can be found throughout the book.
The book shows the horrible thoughts and presentation of the culture and society Esperanza, the main protagonist we follow, is surrounded by. “I believe she doesn’t come out because she is afraid to speak English… She only knows eight words.” From the vignette “No Speak English” This is one of the moments that show the silencing of themselves. She “is afraid to speak English” and by not learning the language of the new land she resides in, she silences herself and makes it difficult for her to have a standing in the community and society she lives in. “No speak English, she says to the child who is singing in the language that sounds like tin.” A silenced child who, when older, will be marginalized for his poor English …show more content…
abilities. Another problem that is presented in The House on Mango Street is the marginalization that happens amongst each other that reside in that community and throughout the culture shown in the book. It is a big problem for the women whose stories are weaved amongst the vignettes. Quoted from the vignette “Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesday” goes to say “And then Rafaela, who is still young… gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away…” The moment shown in this vignette is very obviously marginalization among the women of their culture, treating them like less, or like they are the property of men and cannot do what they want without the man’s word. Throughout this book, there is a lot of presented gender marginalization that takes place. The House on Mango Street silences and marginalizes the community presented within the book through the vignettes. The house on Mango Street is a coming of culture book about Esperanza who tries to make it in the society of America that she lives in.
The book shows the hard truths about growing up in a silenced, struggling community. That is completely right. However, this books more prominent ideals that it shares across the many vignettes is the idea that these people actually struggle amongst their selves more rather than the new land they have to inhabit. Over the course of this powerful book, it is shown many a time over that the people in the surrounding society silence and marginalize their own people. This presents the real, true struggle within the book and actually focuses less on Esperanza trying to fit in amongst her peers and more so on the people and how they treat each other. The House on Mango Street and the culture in the book are silencing and marginalizing itself and the Latinos presented in the
book. The outstanding book that was written by Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street, is a very enjoyable book and brings to light many problems Latino people have to endure during their time in and around America through the eyes of Esperanza and a few others. While the book mainly focuses on Esperanza and her struggles through the life of the society and culture she is a part of, there are many more prominent problems shown in the book. The book, while through the stories of Esperanza, actually bring to light the silencing and marginalizing of the peoples’ own culture. These are more prominent struggles and are what the book is really trying to get a crossed. In the book The House on Mango Street, the majority of the Latino culture presented throughout the book is silencing and marginalizing its own culture that resides in the area the book is written about. “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.”
In the book, Esperanza doesn’t want to follow the norms of the life around her; she wants to be independent. Esperanza states her independence by stating, “Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own,” (Cisneros 108.) The syntax of these sentences stick out and are not complete thoughts, yet they convey much meaning and establish Esperanza’s feeling of not belonging. Esperanza’s feeling of not belonging is also emphasized when her sisters tell her that the events of her life have made her who she is and that is something she can not get rid of. Her sisters explain that the things she has experienced made her who she is by saying, “You will always be esperanza. You will always be mango street. You can’t erase what you know” (105.) What her sisters are trying to tell her is that the past has changed her but it doesn’t have to be a negative thing; it can be used to make her a better person who is stronger and more independent. Esperanza realizes that the things around her don’t really add up to what she believes is right, which also conveys the sense of not
Symbolism is the key to understanding Sandra Cisneros’ novel, “The House on Mango Street”. By unraveling the symbolism, the reader truly exposes the role of not only Latina women but women of any background. Esperanza, a girl from a Mexican background living in Chicago, writes down what she witnesses while growing up. As a result of her sheltered upbringing, Esperanza hardly comprehends the actions that take place around her, but what she did understand she wrote in her journal. Cisneros used this technique of the point of view of a child, to her advantage by giving the readers enough information of what is taking place on Mango Street so that they can gather the pieces of the puzzle a get the big picture.
...m. Without the “struggle” which didn’t come easy she wouldn’t have any passion for the person she wanted to be, she would have built the identity she did. She was able to characterize herself through trial and error, the assaults, the poverty, and the abusive men. Without these experiences she couldn’t have defined herself any better than she has. Sandra Cisneros didn’t only write The House on Mango Street for fun or because it was about her life but because many people that come from the same Mexican-American society can relate, even people from other cultures. She states "You, the reader, are Esperanza.... You cannot forget who you are." And Cisneros is right, no matter what the struggle is that you’ve gone through you can’t hide it, you can’t just put make up over it and forget, it’s not possible. The only thing to do is accept it and move towards a better life.
...ifferently in both. In American culture, Esperanza was a foreign, not a true American. Similarly, In Mexican culture but also defined to still being a woman whose roles are predefined by a male privilege driven community. Secondly, there is no female solidarity or female authority who rescues Esperanza or her friends from adoption erroneous ideas about her identity and value as a woman. Because she is alone, she has no choice but to accept what the perverted and male chauvinist ideas she is presented. Esperanza’s story is unfortunately a representation of many female minorities. Esperanza’s character however, offers hope. Esperanza suggests she will find her way out through writing as well as female solidarity. A space of one’s own is essential; a place where one can reflect and peacefully identify oneself without the loud incorrect expectations of one’s oppressor.
Throughout the story, Esperanza describes how she feels ashamed because of her environment; “Those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we’re dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives,” (28). Esperanza lives in the bad part of town. Her neighborhood is known for having sketchy and mysterious people in it. Because she lives in this neighborhood people also make assumptions about her. At school one day, Esperanza wanted to stay and eat her lunch but only the privileged kids got to stay and eat. One day, Esperanza decides she wants to stay and eat too. But, when she gives the note to Sister Superior she decides Esperanza she have to still eat at home. she makes Esperanza point to her house and makes her feel ashamed and upset of where she lives; “Which one? Come here. Which one is your house?... That one? She said pointing to a row of ugly three-flats, the ones even the raggedy men are ashamed to go into,” (45). Towards the end of the book Esperanza’s view on Mango Street doesn’t change. She is talking to her
... first identifies her difficulty with her society, and then accepts and at the same time defies it. In “Boys and Girls” the reader sees a young girl that is investigating her possibilities in life. In “Beautiful and Cruel” the reader sees a woman who has become independent from the boundaries of her society. Esperanza is tied down by the “anchor,” and then casts it off with her refusal to wait for the “ball and chain.” Esperanza changes from a little girl who makes wishes about her future, to a woman who takes her future in her hands as she begins a “war” on the limitations that she face in her Latino society.
The issues Esperanza faces have shaped who she is as a person. She has seen what she is and what she is not. She believes she is not going to be trapped by the cultural expectations that the community imposes. The personal change she goes through is quite apparent as you see her transition from an innocent girl to a driven woman. Mango Street has shaped Esperanza for the good. From that, identity is not forced upon a person, but shaped by
This novel is about the shame cycle and whether Esperanza will chose to grow from it or to let it ruin her. Esperanza didn’t know this, but she had to go through the most shaming experience possible in order to be forced to make a choice about how to use that shame. Other major themes of the novel include Hoping versus Waiting, Finding Freedom through Marriage or Education, and the Anchors of Race, Poverty, and Gender. Cisneros ties these themes together using the theme of The Shame Cycle, making it the most important. Esperanza hopes for a better life and chooses not to let her anchors stop her. To earn a better life, Esperanza decides to find freedom through education. She decides not to get married young as an escape. She decides to keep hoping and dreaming by not letting shame ruin her.The resolution and escape from the shame cycle helps Esperanza chose education,the rel path to freedom. Additionally, the plot of the novel only comes to a resolution when Esperanza finally overcomes her shame and escapes the
At first, Esperanza is young, insecure, and immature. Her immaturity is apparent when she talks about her mom holding her, saying it is, “sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you and you feel safe” (Cisneros 6-7). This shows Esperanza’s insecurity because her mom is still a big comfort source to her. She feels a false sense of comfort because her mom is there and will protect her. In addition, Esperanza’s immaturity is shown through her dislike for outsiders of the neighborhood when she says, “They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake” (Cisneros 28). This indicates how defensive and protective Esperanza is towards her barrio by calling outsiders stupid for reacting the way they do, even though she dislikes Mango Street....
Esperanza, who faces multiple struggles while living in a Latino community in Chicago on Mango Street. Esperanza is not happy being raised in the same culture as the other women around her and living as a Mexican American in the U.S. culture. Throughout the novel, Cisneros describes the problems women face, like fighting for equality, respect, and freedom within a Hispanic society. In her novel, Cisneros emphasizes the struggles that Esperanza and Latino women had to face in the U.S. society during the middle of the twentieth century.
The idea of the alienated artist is very common in feminist works. Esperanza, the protagonist, is alienated from the rest of society in many ways. Her Latino neighborhood seems to be excluded from the rest of the world, while Esperanza is also separated from the other members of her community. Members of other cultures are afraid to enter the neighborhood because they believe it is dangerous. Esperanza seems to be the only one who refuses to just accept Mango Street, and she dreams of someday leaving it behind. She is considered an artist because she has an extremely creative imagination which creates a conflict with the type of liberal individuality she seeks. This creative "genius survives even under the most adverse conditions..." (Gagnier 137). To escape the pain of this division, Esperanza turns to writing. She says, "I put it down on paper and then the ghost does not ache so much" (Cisneros 110). Gagnier sees a "distinction of the writer who nonetheless sees herself as somehow different, separate..." (137).
Dealing with racism and sexism is never any easy task, especially when you are at a rather young age when you are experiencing those things. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros tackles these issues through the view of Esperanza and her interactions with the people she encounters in her neighborhood. The development of different groups and people’s identity is formed by providing examples of racism and the various aspects that tie in with it. The themes of racism and sexism are also helpfully developed through Esperanza’s growing and changing views as she matures and comes to realize that everyone's stereotypes of the people who live in her neighborhood are unfounded and discriminatory.
Sandra Cisneros' strong cultural values greatly influence The House on Mango Street. Esperanza's life is the medium that Cisneros uses to bring the Latin community to her audience. The novel deals with the Catholic Church and its position in the Latin community. The deep family connection within the barrio also plays an important role in the novel. Esperanza's struggle to become a part of the world outside of Mango Street represents the desire many Chicanos have to grow beyond their neighborhoods.
In the novel, The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros describes the problems that Latino women face in a society that treats them as second class citizens. A society that is dominated by men, and a society that values women for what they look like, and not for what is on inside. In her Novel Cisneros wants us to envision the obstacles that Latino women must face everyday in order to be treated equally.
Esperanza’s struggle to achieve the American Dream is defined when she fantasizes about living in a “real home”, and not the one on mango Street: “They always told us that one day we would move into a house, a real house that would be ours for always so we wouldn’t have to move each year” (Cisneros [page number is missing from file: insert here.]) of course, Esperanza is continually told that they will achieve the American Dream by getting a “real house”, but the reality of life for Mexican-American minorities is that they must live in temporary apartments. In this manner, a Mexican-American could work very hard, yet they do not have the same opportunities that white Americans have in realizing this goal. Certainly, Esperanza must live in a continual state of poverty and transience because her parents cannot afford to buy a house in their income. This part of the problem of racial bias in American life, which often favors the white American as being able to afford a house and get a high paying job. Cisneros is, much like Baldwin and Gish, talking about the barriers to the American Dream to minorities that are barred from having access to the comforts of American life often given to predominantly white Americans. These are important aspects of Cisneros “The House on Mango Street”, which define the underlying racial